One Piece: Saving Hancock with the Batto Batto no Mi

The sea breeze blew gently across the calm blue ocean. On the deck of the pirate ship, which had dropped anchor and ceased sailing, a large number of pirates lay sprawled, mostly unconscious or battered, the result of Sephiroth's rampage.

"Tch!... As I thought, compared to fists... I still prefer using the Butcher's Blade..." Sephiroth muttered to himself, standing on the deck, shaking off the blood that stained his right hand before pulling a Den Den Mushi from his pocket and dialing a number.

It was strange, by the way. He only transformed into a bat, but the Den Den Mushi could transform into a bat with him. A Den Den Mushi was clearly a separate life form; logically, it shouldn't be able to transform with him... What's more... his case wasn't an exception. For instance, Logia-type Devil Fruit users like Kizaru could also transform the Den Den Mushi they carried into an element when they transformed themselves into an element. He completely failed to grasp the principle behind it! An unsolved Devil Fruit mystery.

"Hey, hey, hey! Is that old man Zephyr...?" the Den Den Mushi's husky voice imitated Zephyr's.

"Sephiroth, you brat, why are you calling me?" Zephyr's voice sounded flat, yet there was a hint of curiosity.

"I encountered two pirate ships here, on Dressrosa's south coast, and I've dealt with all of them. Send some people to handle it..." Sephiroth said bluntly.

"You brat, how dare you tell me to collect corpses!?" Zephyr snorted, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Alright!... Since you don't want to send people to capture these pirates, then I'll sink them, including the people and the ships..." Sephiroth threatened, his tone casual.

"Huh!? Wait... You mean... you left survivors...?" At this moment, the Den Den Mushi in Sephiroth's hand instantly mimicked Zephyr's shocked and surprised expression uncannily, its eyes wide.

"Yes! I suspect these people might be connected to that pirate alliance..." Sephiroth explained. "We can escort them back to prison and interrogate them one by one to see if we can get any information."

"Alright, I'll send people over immediately to bring them back." Zephyr's tone became more serious, recognizing the potential intelligence.

After hanging up, Sephiroth looked towards the messy coastline in the distance. After thinking for a moment, he still unfurled the black fleshy wings on his back and quickly flew to the coastline, moving with high efficiency.

He glanced at the injured people—the civilian victims—who were being placed on makeshift stretchers, ready for transport, before speaking. "Quickly gather them all here. I'll open a door to take a shortcut and send them to the hospital."

As he spoke, Sephiroth drew the Butcher's Blade from his waist, split a door in the air with a precise movement, reached out and pushed it open, revealing the light green world inside the door—a pocket dimension created by the Doa Doa no Mi's power. This time, he didn't immediately close the first door he opened. Instead, he opened another door within the world inside that door.

Everyone looked inside and were utterly astonished to find that it was actually the largest hospital in the Dressrosa Kingdom, the Iris Medical Center. They were captivated by the speed and ease of access offered by his Devil Fruit ability.

"What are you still standing there for? Human lives are at stake, hurry up!" Sephiroth snapped, his voice sharp. Hearing the Marine brat's scolding, everyone finally reacted. They quickly lifted the injured and successively passed through the spatial door, walking swiftly into the hospital, wasting no time. To ensure that those severely injured could survive until the end of treatment, he also injected a certain amount of life force into each of them to stop the bleeding and strengthen their vitality, an unexpected application of his Vampire Fruit.

"Princess, you're not hurt, are you? Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up...?" Sephiroth turned and looked at the pink-haired girl outside the door, his tone a little softer.

"I'm not hurt. Compared to this..." Scarlett replied, her eyes fixed on Sephiroth's blood-stained Marine uniform. "I think Marine-sama, you're the one who should go to the hospital for further treatment!" Scarlett furrowed her delicate brows, her face full of concern.

Sephiroth shook his head, an indifferent expression on his face: "Ah! I'm fine now. No need to go to the hospital."

Hearing this, the pink-haired girl immediately puffed out her cheeks and pouted, unconvinced. "Liar! There are clearly many wounds on your clothes, and they're all bleeding..." As she spoke, she reached out her right hand and lifted the silver-haired boy's shirt, a spontaneous action with no ill intent.

"Huh...! How could this be..."

Scarlett's slender, white left hand gently stroked Sephiroth's chest a few times, and as if possessed by a ghost, she also touched his six-pack abs and his Fishman lines. A sweet foolishness.

Did I just... get taken advantage of? he thought to himself, slightly dumbfounded.

"Ah! I'm sorry!... I'm sorry!... I didn't mean to!... I'm sorry!" After realizing her inappropriate behavior just now, the pink-haired girl's face immediately flushed with embarrassment, a blush spreading to her ears. She quickly retracted her hand and hurriedly apologized, stammering.

"Ahem! It's alright, Princess. You did this because you were worried about my injuries..." Sephiroth said, a little awkwardly.

"Um... My name is Scarlett... Marine-sama, what's your name...?" Scarlett asked, her voice now calmer.

"Karl D. Sephiroth."

"Oh~! Sephiroth, thank you for saving me just now..."

"I'm a Marine, it's what I'm supposed to do!" Sephiroth answered proudly.

It wasn't until all the injured were sent to the hospital that Sephiroth closed the double doors. The two waited on the beach for a while before Zephyr and King Riku, leading two teams, rushed over, the sound of their footsteps breaking the silence.

"Scarlett! I heard you were kidnapped by pirates... How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?" King Riku, anxious about his daughter, rushed over and asked, his voice filled with worry.

"I'm fine, I'm not hurt at all. All thanks to Sephiroth..." Scarlett replied, pointing towards him.

King Riku first examined his daughter from head to toe. After confirming that his daughter was indeed unharmed, he finally let out a long sigh of relief, a heavy burden lifted from his shoulders.

"It's good that you're alright!... It's good that you're alright!" This middle-aged man, who was the ruler of a nation, showed no arrogant demeanor whatsoever. He tightly grasped the silver-haired boy's right hand, shaking it repeatedly, and said sincerely: "Young man, thank you! I will definitely write a letter to Marineford to express my gratitude for your brave actions today."

Seeing this situation, Sephiroth scratched his head slightly embarrassed and said with a smile: "Uh! I just did what I was supposed to do..."

On the other side, Zephyr had already taken some Marine soldiers, jumped into the sea, swam to the two pirate ships, and tied up the surviving pirates, securing them.

After the pleasantries were over, King Riku was worried about the condition of the injured. So, he took Scarlett to the hospital to check on them and also to visit the families of the injured victims—an action that showed his concern for his people.

After Zephyr and the others moored the two pirate ships near the shore, they escorted the pirates to Dressrosa Kingdom's prison, preparing to extract some useful information from them. As for Sephiroth, he returned to the Royal Palace to change into clean clothes before continuing to enjoy the rest of his short vacation... a well-deserved rest.

Night fell, a bright moon rose, and the night sky was cloudless, presenting a tranquil atmosphere that contrasted with the impending tension. Two warships from the G5 Branch, carrying one hundred Marine soldiers, headed directly to the Royal Palace after arriving in the Dressrosa Kingdom. Therefore, Zephyr gathered all the Marine Military School Students and officers for an important meeting.

Inside the dimly lit conference room.

Zephyr placed a Den Den Mushi on the long conference table. He pressed it lightly with his hand, and an image was immediately projected onto the wall, showing threatening bounty faces.

"Now, I will introduce to you the pirate alliance formed by seven Supernovas." Zephyr's voice filled the room. "I heard that these people originally wanted to unite to hunt down the very famous Bounty Hunter, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro. However, because they had been hiding in the Sabaody Archipelago for too long, they attracted our attention, the Marines. Originally, Marineford wanted to annihilate all of them, but unexpectedly, the other party was already prepared. They had already coated their ships, and when the Marines surrounded them, they immediately sank and went to Fish-Man Island... A cunning maneuver.

"These seven Supernovas are all Devil Fruit users with bounties exceeding 100 million Berries, and their strength is very impressive." Zephyr continued, his tone serious. "Next, I will introduce to you the latest bounties of these people after entering the New World... Dylan Yerrick's bounty: 170 million Berries... James Claude's bounty: 190 million Berries... Peter Nock's bounty: 200 million Berries... Joseph Kutt's bounty: 220 million Berries... Herold Monroe's bounty: 230 million Berries... Robert Viktor's bounty: 235 million Berries... Matthew Yunus's bounty: 260 million Berries..."

Seeing the profiles of the Supernovas one by one, as well as the officers on their ships who had bounties, Sephiroth's eyes twitched slightly. He muttered to himself: Fortunately, this young master temporarily retired back then, otherwise, I might have truly capsized in the gutter... A thought that reflected a strange respect for the power of the New World Pirates.

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